Samsung Galaxy S10+
THIS IS THE SAMSUNG S10 PHONE YOU REALLY WANT.
THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 Plus is the new, almost-everythingincluded Samsung phone that you really want, if you can afford it — and can wrap your hands around its massive display.
We were immediately drawn to it as the bigger and better version of the Galaxy S10 and cheaper Galaxy S10e. There’s a lot to like about the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, and little to dislike.
The Galaxy S10 Plus redefines what a ‘phablet’ is in 2019, with a 6.4-inch edge-to-edge screen and Samsung’s next-generation Infinity-O display, with a ‘punch-hole’ design for the front-facing cameras.
DISPLAY
The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus makes this the biggest S phone screen to date, bigger than 5.8-inch Galaxy S9 Plus and matching the Galaxy Note 9 screen size. It’s also a lot better.
The main draw for us is the 93.1% screen-to-body ratio, as Samsung has found a way to fit more pixels across a tighter body, which also means a reduction in the size of the already-slender bezels above and below the display.
Its standout screen size is down to Samsung’s new Infinity-O display. The South Korean firm has avoided using a notch cut-out across its new flagship range by opting for a laser-cut hole in the top-right corner.
This ‘punch-hole’ display is officially a trend, but Samsung’s biggest phone includes two front-facing cameras, not one, with the second RGB camera used to take better portrait selfies than the single-lens front-facing Galaxy S10 and S10e cameras. It means the punch-hole on the S10 Plus takes up a little more space than on other handsets.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is also the first phone (along with the Galaxy S10) with HDR10+ support for superior contrast and colour, an important perk if you’re a movie watcher on your phone — an idea which isn’t so crazy here, since the screen size is close to that of a small tablet.
Other screen attributes include enhanced brightness for better outdoor visibility and Samsung’s familiar elegantly curved edges, letting pixels spill over the sides.
DESIGN
Aside from the new screen, the design of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus looks familiar at first sight. However, you’ll find subtle improvements, and
THE 6.4-INCH SUPER AMOLED DISPLAY ON THE SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 PLUS MAKES THIS THE BIGGEST S PHONE SCREEN TO DATE, BIGGER THAN THE 5.8-INCH GALAXY S9 PLUS AND MATCHING THE GALAXY NOTE 9 SCREEN SIZE. IT’S ALSO A LOT BETTER.
surprises new and old. Its aluminum frame is thinner than that of the S9 Plus, and still sandwiched between smooth glass — in most versions. Everything on the standard S10 Plus is covered in Gorilla Glass 6, front and back, while the 512GB and 1TB versions are backed by ceramic in either white or black. Meanwhile the standard glass version — the one most people will likely buy — comes in ‘Prism’ white, black and green. We got the Prism model as our review device that has 128GB of storage. Unchanged since the first S phone a decade ago is the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack, which returns on the bottom of the phone alongside the USB-C port.
CAMERA
The Samsung S10 Plus, like the S10, includes a robust triple-lens rear camera array, comprising a 12MP regular lens, a 12MP optically zoomed telephoto lens, and a new 16MP ultra-wide lens.
Using Samsung’s dual-aperture lens on the regular camera we were able to capture vibrant-looking photos and even fairly good low-light pictures. The quality isn’t always consistent, and it lacks something like Google’s dedicated longexposure Night Vision mode, but it ranks among the best camera phones for 2019.
What Google doesn’t have on its main camera is the ability to shoot wide photos. Samsung’s ultra-wide lens has a 123-degree field of view, and it’s great for cramming more into the frame — so when you’re posing in front of tall buildings and iconic statues, whoever’s lucky enough to be taking your picture won’t be forced to cross the street in order to do so.
BATTERY LIFE
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus battery hits a new high for the firm’s S series of phones, with a 4,100mAh capacity. Last year’s S9 Plus was above average for Android flagships, delivering all-day battery life from its 3,500mAh unit, but the S10 Plus performed better for us in our tests.
With moderate use — a couple of hours of Spotify streaming, a healthy amount of messaging and social media, an hour or two of Netflix and a smattering of gaming — we found it easy to end the night with an impressive 10% to 30% battery left.
PERFORMANCE
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus runs the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system, Android 9 Pie, although it’s coated in the South Korean’s firm own interface.
Gone are the days of the overly oppressive TouchWiz UI though; Samsung’s current One UI is more lightweight, although still clearly different from stock Android.
A little confusingly, the beating heart of the handset is different depending on where you buy it. In the US the Galaxy S10 Plus ships with Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 855 chip, while in most other places around the world it features Samsung’s own Exynos 9820 chip.
Both are octa-core, are paired with 8GB of RAM (12GB in the Ultimate Performance Edition) and provide plenty of grunt. We were able to try out both versions of the Galaxy S10 Plus, so we could see how each performed — and interestingly it appears the Snapdragon-powered handset is the snappier.
We ran Geekbench 4 on both devices, with the Snapdragonpowered S10 Plus chalking up an average multi-core score of 11,002, making it the fastest Android phone we’ve ever tested.
VERDICT
The Galaxy S10 Plus is Samsung’s biggest and best phone at the moment, if you ignore the 5G version that’s coming, and which may be ahead of its time for many.
Its moderate changes are why it’s our favourite — there’s newness, but you know what you’re getting here: more pixels spread across a smaller body, a triple-lens camera that captures ultra-wide photos, and a bigger battery. Improvements, but no major surprises.